Apparatus for removing trash from cotton gins



F. M. ALTMAN April 9, 1957 APPARATUS FOR REMOVING TRASH FROM COTTON GINS Filed Dec. 3, 1954 INVENTOR FRA/vc/s MAR/0N ALTMAN wa /M,

ATTORNEYS iinited States Patent 9 APPARATUS FOR REMOVING TRASH FROM COTTON GINS Francis Marion Altman, Aynor, S. C.

Application December 3, 1954, Serial No. 472,847

Claims. (CI. 19-58) value of thoroughly cleaned lint many attempts have been made to provide means for effectively and eificiently removing extraneous matter from the cotton gin and keeping the lint substantially free of such matter. In the cotton gin proper ahead of the dotting point, 90% of the extraneous matter is in the form of free trash, that is, grass, leaves, motes, etc. which is not impaled with the cotton fibers on the saw blades. In accordance with existing commercial practice removal of trash and other extraneous matter from the gin is eifectedprincipally by centrifugal force, the trash particles being thrown by centrifugal action into a mote or trash chamber aheadof the dofling point. In view of the relative inefficiency of this system several mechanical aids have been proposed to increase the effectiveness of centrifugal separation.

For various reasons none of the prior expedients have been more than partially successful and prior to the present invention it was necessary to-employ a separate lint cleaner to produce lint of the desired purity.

Perhaps the most effective prior trash separating device is disclosed in United States Patent 2,658,239. In this apparatus which is of the centrifugal type, the effectiveness of the centrifugal separation is augmented by a grid or stripper bar positioned adjacent the periphery of the gin saws ahead of the dotting point. While the use of this arrangement has increased the efliciency of separation by as much as 50% over preceding systems it nevertheless does not produce lint having a purity approaching that delivered by a separate lint cleaner.

It is accordingly the primary purpose and object of the present invention to provide improved means for preventing free trash from entrainment in the lint in a cotton gin which overcomes the above stated disadvantages of prior machines. Y i

In carrying out this and other objects 'of the invention the present invention contemplates the provision, in a cotton gin of otherwise conventional construction, of means for directing streams of air radially outwardly through the spaces between adjacent gin saws ahead of the dotting point, whereby extraneous matter may be blown into a mote or trash chamber for disposal thereafter in accordance with conventional techniques. The invention also comprises a unique arrangement of stripping fingers extending from the doffing nozzle to a point within the periphery of the gin saws.

Thus it is an additional important object of the present invention to provide improved means for preventing the entry of free trash into the lint flue which, despite its effectiveness, is of simple, inexpensive andv rugged construction.

It is also an object of the invention to provide improved mechanisms for preventing the entrainment of extraneous matter in the lint which may be incorporated in new ginsor added as an attachment to existing machines at rela tively low cost and with substantially no modification of the existing structure.

It is a further object of the invention to provide devices of the character described which in most cases require little or no additional power and thus produce little or no increase in operating cost.

Additional objects and advantages will become apparem as the description proceeds in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure l is a vertical transverse section of the cotton gin incorporating the device of the present invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the in-. vention as applied to modified apparatus;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 3-3 of Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional view of a modification of the invention.

As stated above, it is a feature of the invention that it may be incorporated in apparatus of the type presently in widespread use without modification of the existing structure and at relatively low cost. For purposes of illus tration the invention will be disclosed herein as applied to a cotton gin of the type disclosed in Patent 2,658,239. However, it will be apparent that the invention may be applied to other forms of cotton gins.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the basic components of the gin stand there shown are of substantially the same construction as those disclosed in the aforesaid Patent 2,658,239 and will be described here only to the extent necessary to facilitate an understand ing of the present invention.

Suitably mounted within the casing indicated generally at 20 is the usual saw cylinder 22 which includes a plurality of saws 24 mounted in spaced relation on a driven shaft 26. Driven picker rolls 28 and 3t) deliver the seed cotton to be ginned from the breast 32 to the saws 24. The teeth 34 of the saws pull the seed cotton between huller ribs 36 and deliver it to the roll box 38 in which the action of the saws completes the ginning operation. The lintimpaled on the teeth 34 of the saws is pulled through the ginning ribs 40 which are disposed in close clearance relation to the saws 24 and advance the lint toward the dofiing assembly indicated generally at 42. In the gin stand shown, dofiing is effected by an air blast delivered by a nozzle 44 which extends longitudinally of the stand and which directs air supplied through a main conduit 46 substantially tangentially of the saw thus removing the lint from the saw teeth and delivering it to lint flue 48. Depending on its purity the lint delivered through the flue 48 is either further processed in a lint cleaner of conventional construction or baled for ship} ment. The seed cotton deposited in the breast 32 unavoidably contains a substantial amount of impurities such as grass, leaves, motes and other trash and extraneous matter. A certain percentage of the hulls removed from the cotton fall from the open bottom end of the breast 32. Some additional extraneous matter such as seeds is permitted to fall out of the roll box 33 between the huller ribs 36 and the ginning ribs 49. Nevertheless a very substantial percentage of the trash is pulled or wiped through the ginning ribs 40 and passes toward the entrance of the lint flue 48. In accordance with prior practice centrifugal action and in some cases mechanical stripping was relied on to separate this trash from the lint ahead of the dofl'lng point. In the construction shown a certain percentage of the trash pulled or wiped through the ginning bars 4t) is thrown by centrifugal force into a mote or trash chamber indicated generally at 50 which may be partially evac uated by a suction pipe 52. The trash thrown ofi the saw blades is urged toward the bottom of the mote chamber and may be removed therefrom by a conventional. screw conveyor 56. In accordance with the aforesaid Patent 2,658,239, a stripper or grid bar 53 is provided in close clearance relation with the outer periphery of the saw blades ahead of the doffing point to augment the separation of trash effected by the centrifugal action. The stripper bar is kept relatively clean by a wiping roller 54. While this construction represented a substantial improvement over preceding developments nevertheless it leaves much to be desired and does not approach the effectiveness of a separate lint cleaner.

I have discovered that by the incorporation of simple additional apparatus in the construction thus far described, which per se forms no part of the present invention, I can achieve an efiiciency of trash removal which approaches that effected by the use of a separate lint cleaner and thus obviates the necessity for using such a cleaner.

In its preferred form the present invention contemplates the use of combined pneumatic and mechanical means which cooperate in a novel manner to effect the desired trash removal although actual tests have shown that the use of either the mechanical or pneumatic means separately effects a substantial improvement over prior devices. gin in conjunction with or without the above described grid bar.

The pneumatic system is particularly useful in improving the quality of lint in a gin which lacks means for partially evacuating the more chamber and the mechani cal system may be used with excellent results in a gin equipped with suction means for removing the trash.

However, regzrdless of the construction of the gin the unique advantages of the invention are best realized by the use of the pneumatic and mechanical means in combination.

In accordance with one aspect of the invention the trash is pneumatically removed by the provision of means for establishing air streams between adjacent saws moving from a point within the periphery of each oi the saws outwardly toward the mote chamber ahead of the (roiling point. Preferably the air streams originate at or adjacent to the rear edge of each of the ginning ribs 40. As stated above, it is a feature of the invention that it involves only simple apparatus which may readily be incorporated in existing cotton gins of otherwise convcntional construction and for purposes of disclosure the invention will be illustrated and described as an attachment to such an existing machine. I have found that the desired air streams may be supplied by securing air delivery tubes 6% to the rear surface of each of the ginning ribs 40. Conveniently the tubes 60 follow, along their entire length, the contour of the ginning ribs and terminate with their upper ends disposed so as to direct the flow of air toward the mote chamber ahead of the inlet to flue 48, or ahead of the stripper bar if one is used, to produce a flow pattern essentially as shown by the arrows 62. Generally this how pattern is effected most efii'ciently by disposing the open ends 64 of the tubes well above the shaft 26 of the saw cylinder; Conveniently air may be supplied to the individual tubes 60 through a manifold 66 which extends the length of the gin stand and is secured in any convenient position permitted by space limitations in existing machines adjacent the lower ends of the ginning ribs 40. Air is preferably supplied to the manifold 66 through one or more flexible conduits 68 connected to the main air supply duct 46 although it will be understood that a separate source of air may be used for the manifold 66. To permit control of the air pressure within the manifold 66 the conduits 68 are preferably provided with valves 70. If desired a pressure gauge 71 maybe connected to the manifold 66mm the conduits 68. k V

In practice both the optimum position of the tube ends 64' and the velocity of air issuing therefrom will be de- This invention may be used efi'ectively on a termined by the requirements and construction of a particular gin. However in all cases the velocity of the air streams is preferably the maximum which can be used without dotl'ing the lint from the saw teeth 34. It will be appreciated of course that lower air velocities must be used as the angle of the air stream approaches a tangent to the saw and, conversely, that higher air velocities may be used if the air streams are directed substantially radially of the saws.

It will be understood that while the air manifold has been shown as being disposed at the bottom of the ginning ribs 40 the air manifold may also be'disposcd at V the top of the ribs or at any other convenient location. If

the manifold is located at the top of the ginning ribs the tubes will extend downwardly along the ginning ribs and "will be provided with a reverse bend adjacent their open ends so that the desired air flow pattern will be estab- {ishcd to edect the desired trash removal.

It is also to be understood that ginning ribs 40 may be made hollow to obviate the necessity for separate tubes 60- as shown in-Figure 4. In this event the ribs 40 are provided with nozzle apertures 72 along their rear surfaces again to establish the air flow pattern indicated by the arrows 62 substantially as described above. Also a hollow rib construction substantially as shown in Patent 2,2l9,402 may be used if suitably modified to provide the air flow pattern herein described.

it has been established by actual usage and test that the invention in its form thus far described removes substantially twice as much free trash as the best known prior constructions. It has also been determined that these remarkable results can be efiected without requiring additional power. In most cases because of the relatively ion/velocity of the air streams required for effective trash removal, the air may be bled from the main air supply conduit 46 without adversely effecting the efficiency of the clotting nozzle assembly 42. The additional trash removed by the apparatus of the present invention is largely in the form of free trash which was not susceptible of easy control and removal by prior systems.

it is particularly noteworth that because of the simplicity of the present invention this remarkable gain in cleaning efiicien'cy may be achieved with a very small increase in operating costs.

While the invention in the form thus far described will effect a degree of trash removal su'fhcient for most purposes ithasbe'en found that the efiiciency of the system can be further increased by the addition of the mechanism shown in detail in Figures 2 and 3. In this form of the invention the pneumatic cleaning is augmented by mechanical stripping through the provision of stripping fingers' or ribs 74' which may extend from a plate 76 mounted on the doffingnozzle'44 to the rear surface of the ginning ribs 40 within the periphery of the saws 22, preferably just below the air delivery ends of the tube 60. The wiper fingers thus" replace the grid bar. The provision of the wiping fingers" 74 effectively prevent the passage of this free trash toward the doifing point and trash which maytend to collect on the outer surfaces of the fingers 74 is Blown into the mote chamber by the air issuing from the tubes 60 In many cases the action of the stripping fingers 74 maybe sufficient to effect the desired cleaning Without the provision of the' air tubes 60 particularly if the partial vacuum established in the mote chamber 50 is relatively'high so as to prevent possible clogging of the fingers.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restn'ctive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the a pended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which conic within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embracedtherein.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by United States Letters Patent is:

1. In a cotton gin, a plurality of gin saws mounted for rotation about substantially a horizontal axis and passing through a plurality of ginning ribs toward a dofiing point, means forming a trash chamber in communication with said saws between said ginning ribs and said dofling point, and means including an air nozzle opening at a point a substantial distance above the saw axis for directing a flow of air from a point a substantial distance inwardly 'of the saw teeth outwardly towards said trash chamber intermediate said ginning ribs and said dofling point over substantially the entire opening between said ribs and said dofiing point to force free trash from the area between said saws into said trash chamber.

2. The cotton gin according to claim 1 wherein said last-mentioned means comprises a series of air delivery tubes mounted on said ginning ribs at the rear sides thereof.

3. The cotton gin according to claim 1 wherein said last-mentioned means includes means forming air passages and nozzles in said ginning ribs.

4. In a cotton gin, a plurality of gin saws mounted for rotation about a substantially horizontal axis and passing through a plurality of ginning ribs toward a doffing point, means forming a trash chamber in communication with said saws between said ginning ribs and said doffing point, and a plurality of air delivery tubes rigid with the rear edges of the respective ginning ribs, the delivery ends of said tubes being disposed a substantial distance above the axis of said saws and a substantial distance inwardly of the saw teeth intermediate said ginning ribs and said doffing point and directed outwardly toward said trash chamber whereby air issuing from said delivery ends of said tubes flows over the entire area between said saws and forces free trash from the area between said saws into said trash chamber.

5. In a cotton gin, a plurality of gin saws passing through a plurality of ginning ribs toward a dofiing nozzle, means forming a trash chamber in communication with said saws between said ginning ribs and said dofiing nozzle, a plurality of fingers extending substantially from said nozzle to said ginning ribs, the ends of said fingers remote from said doffing nozzle being disposed within the periphery of said saws, and means for directing a flow of air from a point above said fingers outwardly toward said trash chamber intermediate said ginning ribs and said doflrng nozzle to force free trash above said fingers into said trash chamber.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,219,402 Sanders Oct. 29, 1940 2,562,424 Hopper July 31, 1951 2,634,461 Merkel et al Apr. 14, 1953 2,679,071 Howell May 25, 1954 

